Third Year of the Feminist Fund Dears

Our roots are growing stronger! Third year of the Feminist Fund Dears, FemFund is 3 years old already! We feel that after three years we are standing firmly on two legs: the femi- After two intense and fairly crazy nist community that uses the Fund’s years, 2020 was a year of rooting and money keeps on growing regularly, building strong foundations for the and there are also more and more mature and stable organization that persons who support the Fund FemFund wants to be. We used the with monthly donations. We are time of the pandemic to care for rela- an organization that specializes in tions within the team, strengthen the providing grants and feminist philan- organization’s security, order our pro- thropy. We reach groups and organi- cedures and formalities, and to talk zations from all over Poland, from about our vision of FemFund and how cities, towns, and villages; within the We invite you to read the summary to strengthen the feminist movement feminist movement, we support the of the year 2020 in FemFund! in Poland strategically and in the long voices of minorities, the excluded, run. and the marginalized. The persons Magda, Justyna, Gosia, who co-create this movement daily Marta and Mona still decide whom to support. Bigger and wiser FemFund! We started 2020 as a stronger team, from Ulex Project. It was a much about our key values, about the cur- joined by Mona Szychowiak and needed conversation, thanks to which rent political context, about the needs Gosia Leszko . A while later, we we were able to critically look at our of our community and its internal started a regular cooperation with practices of overworking and (not) diversity. For many months we were Do Bregin . resting. In 2020, we wanted to take methodically building our under- care of FemFund as a workplace, we standing of how we want to act and That way, we increased our inner created a social benefits fund and, for what we want to achieve. In the end, strengths and skills, and created two the first time in herstory, we went to- our plan will probably fit one sheet key programs within FemFund: grants gether for a trip to a forest. of paper, but it will be a very well and fundraising, supported by the thought-through sheet! Board and administration. Throughout the whole year, thanks to the sisterly support of Prospera – a The new shape of the team and divi- network uniting women’s funds from sion of tasks were combined with a all over the world – we worked on a conversation about how to work to- strategic plan for FemFund for the gether in a way that helps us regener- next few years. As a team, we spent ate and save our nerves . dozens of hours discussing where we want FemFund to head towards and We were supported in thinking about the role we want it to play in the fem- it by a wonderful workshop by Ilaj inist movement in Poland. We talked FEMFUND.PL More and more feminism! Starting a year with an open call for The great news was also that, com- and organizations from all over Po- proposals has become our tradition in pared to previous contests, we have land – also those far away from big 2020. We were delighted to see that seen the largest growth in the number cities, recently created, and debuting the third call received a record num- of ideas by groups and organizations in our common movement. ber of applications for mini-grants. from Eastern Poland, specifically There were 280 of them, from 160 podlaskie, lubelskie, świętokrzyskie In 2020, the money from the Fund places in Poland! and podkarpackie voivodeships. supported a record number of 25 ini- What is more, over 30% of all the tiatives. Of course, most of them were applications came from rural commu- chosen by the very same groups and nities, and over half of the groups organizations that had applied for the and organizations participating in funds . the call said to have little or very little fundraising experience. As a result, a lot of feminist goodness has been taking place → This data shows that the mini-grant program remain what they were meant to be from the beginning: an accessible and friendly source of financing for feminist activism, performed by very diverse groups FEMFUND.PL Third edition of the mini-grants! • Teenage girls from Wałbrzych organized an activist camp and study visits to feminist organizations in Poland and are now planning their own actions. • Pink Boxes, filled with free men- struation products, were sent to various places in Poland, and animated videos about periods, created by MenstrUlka group, can be found online. • Five girls from Brzesko started or continued learning how to program. Odważne Dziewczyny (Brave Girls) from Wałbrzych during a camp in Mniszków Third edition of the mini-grants! • Queer activists organized two trips to support the LGBTQPIA commu- nities in Dębica and Tuchów, two towns where discriminatory reso- lutions had been passed (so-called “LGBT-ideology free zones”). • Young refugees from Caucasus went together to Mieroszyno to meet feminist and migrant activists from Tricity, rest by the sea, and get to know each other better. • Mothers of children with disabilities from around Bieńkowo regen- erated thanks to massages, horse riding classes, and meetings in cir- Queer Tour in Puławy cles. Third edition of the mini-grants! • Girls from the school in Suchorze learned the basics of self-defense and participated in classes about puberty. Hygiene packs for men- struating persons were provided for their school. • A unique Women’s Village Cinema was created in Wiązownica-Kolonia, where women can watch movies, chat, and take part in a yoga class. • Participants of herstory workshops in Łódź restored the memory of for- gotten heroines: Jewish caretakers of children from the Łódź ghetto. Birthday of the PasjoDzielnia (PassionSharing) Foundation in Wiązownica-Kolonia Third edition of the mini-grants! • A new short film premiered on YouTube: “Wiadomość” (“The Message”) was entirely created by a group and transgender persons from Zabrze. • Over a dozen women with movement and seeing disabilities participated in classes of feminist self-defense and assertiveness in Cracow and Wrocław. • Activists from the Workers' Initia- tive trade union have developed proposals for solutions in situations of conflict and violence – they will be submitted to a vote during the Sonia and Tomek from the group Kadr na Równość (Frame for Equality), Katowice national Congress in March 2021. Ada and Bożena from MenstrUlka group in Wrocław Third edition of the mini-grants! • Women from Chełm area who had experienced violence took part in empowerment workshops. • Women, non-binary persons and trans persons had an opportunity to play ball in a supportive atmosphere of sisterhood during open football trainings. • Colorful Paramedics cared for pro- testers against the abortion ban and during the Climate Camp. They also prepared ICE cards, which they delivered to the organizers of the Equality Marches all over Poland. Training of Kobieca* Akademia Piłkarska (Women's* Football Academy) in Warsaw Third edition of the mini-grants! • Teenagers from Białystok took sex education into their own hands and organized open webinars on informed consent, HIV prevention, and heteronorm. • Refugees from the Warsaw center in Targówek met during cultural outings, workshops and walks in a friendly, informal atmosphere. • The first queer artistic festival, with vogueing workshops, film screen- ings and drag shows, took place in Lublin. Ala Urwał during the QUEERZ GET LOUD Festival in Lublin Workshops with residents of the Center for Foreigners in Warsaw, conducted by the Informal Group Trzykrotność (Threefold) Third edition of the mini-grants! • A group of self-advocates created suggestions on how to adapt WenDo self-defense workshops to the needs of persons on the autism spectrum. • A group of mothers from the vicinity of Komorów met for several months with a psychologist, physiotherapist, and in so-called circles. • 4 body-positive workshops, including one for parents who want to support a good relationship between a child and their own body, took place in Łódź. • Women’s Club, a safe haven where women can meet, have a coffee, Workshops for mums from Kiedy Rodzi się Matka (When a Mother is Born) read or – if need arises – take group from Komorów refuge and spend a night was created in Łapy-Dębowina. Permanent cooperation or we act all the time Our three-year cooperation program is already one year old! There is no way to write about all the activities, so we present a very abbreviated and by no means complete overview of 2020 from our Grantees . FEMFUND.PL New• spaces • Thanks to Stowarzyszenie dla Ziemi • Deaf girls have better access to emotional intelligence for the Deaf (Association for the Earth), a tailor's knowledge thanks to the work of community and inaugurated the workshop and a women's club the Różowy Orzech (Pink Nut) series "In the circle of women. were established in the center for group. Its members organized work- Conversations of the Pink Nut”. foreigners in Łuków – a space for shops on sex education and meetings and joint work of female residents, as well as the only place in the center with a well-function- ing external Internet! • The Kopacze-Diggers collective has been building a space for develop- ment and rest for activists in the Masovian countryside with their own hands. Works are still in pro- gress, but already two collectives that act for social justice spent time in Kopacze in 2020. Zmapuj Siebie (Map Yourself) camp for young girls in Izerskie Mountains FEMFUND.PL We• are growing deep W(y)puszczone • There are two new organizations organized the first program meeting community.

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